Packing tray



Dec. 17, 1968 J. w. MICHAEL PACKING TRAY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan.

BY g2 QOLK M ATTORNEY-S Dec. 17, 1968 J, w. MICHAEL PACKING TRAY 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan,

m ATTORNEYS (buy ACHAEL.

United States Patent 3,416,690 PACKING TRAY Joe W. Michael, 1 EarringPoint, Orchid, Fla. Filed Jan. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 607,524 1 Claim. (Cl.21726.5)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A packing tray comprising a lower sectionincluding a base portion having a plurality of depressions openingupwardly for receiving and supporting objects to be held in the tray,said base portion having a plurality of upwardly projecting load bearingelements, an upper section including a base portion adapted to overliethe lower section having a plurality of depressions registerable withthe depressions in the lower section when the sections are disposed inoverlying relation whereby the depressions in the upper section opendownwardly for receiving and forming a cover over the objects supportedin the lower section, the second section having a plurality of dependingelements registerable with and engageable in seating relation on theload bearing elements when the sections are disposed in overlyingrelation, the bottom walls of the depressions in each section beingsubstantially flattened to facilitate stacking of a plurality of trayswhereby when a plurality of such trays are stacked, the weight of theupper trays is supported entirely by the lower trays thus preventinginjury to any of the objects carried in the trays.

This invention relates to a packing tray, and more particularly to atray for packing delicate or fragile articles such as fruit, vegetables,eggs and the like.

In the prior art, there are many types of trays which are intended foruse in packing delicate or fragile foodstuff products such as fruits,vegetables, eggs and the like for storage or shipping purposes. Many ofsuch prior art packing trays, however, have been found not to beentirely satisfactory in construction insofar as their intended use isconcerned. Often, such packing trays are apt to engage and crush theproducts carried thereon duringhandling, and particularly duringstacking of the trays which invariably is necessary during handling.This occurrence results in damage to the products being carried, whichimpairs their quality even to the extent where a portion of a shipmentmust be discarded because of poor quality. In addition, it has beenfound that in many conventional packing trays for foodstuffs, in whichthe product is intended to be protected from crushing, the product isenclosed by the packing tray components, thus preventing the circulationof air in contact with the product during storage or shipping.

Accordingly, it is the prinipal object of the present invention toprovide a novel packing tray.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel packingtray suitable for carrying delicate or fragile foodstuff products suchas fruit, vegetables, eggs and the like.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedpacking tray which is adapted to be stacked in tiers without causingdamage to the foodstuff products carried therein.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a novelpacking tray for carrying foodstuff products which are adapted toprevent any load applied to the tray to be transmitted to the productthereby causing damage thereto.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel packingtray in which the tray components do not entirely enclose the productsbeing carried, thereby per- 3,416,690 Patented Dec. 17, 1968 mittingcirculation of air between the products being carried during storage andshipping thereof.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel packingtray for foodstuff products, in which each individual article issegregated from the other articles being carried by the packing trays.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide animproved packing tray for foodstuff products, which is simple inconstruction and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become moreapparent to those persons skilled in the art, from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention,illustrating the components thereof in exploded relation;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged end elevational view of the embodiment shown inFIGURE 1, illustrating the components thereof in their assembledposition;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 33 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of a modification of the embodimentillustrated in FIGURES 1 through 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of another modification of the embodimentillustrated in FIGURES 1 through 3.

Briefly described, the present invention relates to a packing traygenerally comprising upper and lower sections, the lower sectionincluding a base portion having a plurality of depressions for receivingand supporting objects to be held in the tray, the base portion having aplurality of upwardly projecting load bearing elements, the uppersection including a base portion adapted to overlie the lower baseportion having a plurality of depressions registrable with thedepressions in the lower base portion when the upper and lower baseportions are disposed in overlying relation, and the upper base portionhaving a plurality of depending elements registrable with and engageablein seating relation on the load bearing elements of the upper sectionwhen the upper and lower base portions are disposed in overlyingrelation.

Preferably, the registrable depressions in the upper and lower baseportions are disposed in staggered rows, the upwardly projecting loadbearing elements and the depend ing elements have coplanar engagingsurfaces, and the base portions are planar and disposed in spacedrelation when the upper and lower sections are positioned in overlyingrelation.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated an embodiment of theinvention in FIGURES 1 through 3. The embodiment comprises a packingtray 10, including a lower section 11 and a cooperating or mating uppersection 12. The lower section 11 consists of a substantially rectangularshaped planar base portion 13, having a plurality of depressions orpockets 14 arranged in staggered rows. As best seen in FIGURES 2 and 3,the bottom wall portions of the depressions 14 are substantiallyflattened and the depressions are adapted to receive and supportindividual articles, as illustrated in FIGURE 3. The base portion 13also is provided with a plurality of upwardly projecting load bearingelements 15, which are disposed between the depressions 14. Each of theload bearing elements 15 is provided with a planar seating surface 16.

The upper section 12 is constructed similar to the lower section 11, andincludes a substantially rectangular shaped planar base portion 17 whichis adapted to overlie the lower base portion 13 in spaced relation whenthe upper and lower sections 11 and 12 are in their assembled position.The upper base portion 17 is provided with a plurality of depressions18, which are arranged in staggered rows and are registrable with thedepressions 14 in the 11 and 12 are in the assembled position. The upperbase portion 17 further is provided with a plurality of dependingelements 19, which are disposed between the depressions 18, andregistrable with the upwardly projecting load bearing elements 15 on thelower base portion 13. Each of the depending elements 19 is providedwith a planar surface 20, which engages a registrable seating surface 16on an upwardly projecting load bearing element 15 in seating relationwhen the upper and lower sections 11 and 12 are assembled. Theconfiguration of the engageable surfaces 16 and 19 are substantiallysimilar. Also, the bottom wall portion of each of the depressions issubstantially flattened, as best illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3.

In the use of the packing tray illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 3, theproducts to be packed are first placed in the depressions 14 of thelower tray section 11. The upper tray section 12 is then placed on thelower tray section 11, so that the depending elements 19 are seated onthe upwardly projecting load bearing elements 15, the upper base portion17 overlies the lower base portion 13 in spaced relation, and the upperportions of the products positioned in the depressions 14 are receivedin the upper depressions 18.

With a tray thus assembled, it may be stacked in a crate 21, asillustrated in FIGURE 2, without fear of crushing the articles carriedin each of the trays. It will be appreciated that with the constructionof the trays as described, the substantially flattened bottom walls ofthe depressions 14 and 18 facilitate the stacking of the trays and theload applied on each packing tray is transmitted from the upper traysection 12 to the lower tray section 11, through the depending elements19 seated on the load bearing elements 15. It further will be seen thatwith such a tray construction, no compressive load is applied to theproducts carried within the trays and such products will be exposed topermit circulation of air therebetween.

. The combined height of the upwardly projecting load bearing elements15 and the depending elements 19 is made sufficiently large to preventany contact of the bottom wall of the upper depressions 18 from engagingand transmitting any compressive load to the products carried by thepacking trays.

FIGURES 4 and illustrate various modifications of the embodimentillustrated in FIGURES 1 through 3. The modified embodiments areconstructed similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIGURS -1 through3, but are provided with a slightly different arrangement of thedepressions and load transmitting elements.

The embodiments of the invention as described, can be constructed of anysuitable material and by means of any adequate method. It is preferred,however, that the components of the packing trays be constructed of asufficiently rigid material to prevent the collapse of the trays. It

furthermore is preferred that the upper and lower tray sections beconstructed either by stamping or molding.

From the foregoing detailed description it will be evident that thereare a number of changes, adaptations and modifications of the presentinvention which come within the province of those skilled in the art.However, it is intended that all such variations not departing from thespirit of the invention be considered as within the scope thereof aslimited solely by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A packing tray comprising upper and lower cooperating sectionsconstructed of a rigid material, said lower section including a baseportion having a plurality of depressions disposed in staggered rows,opening upwardly for receiving and supporting objects to be held in thetray, the base portion of said lower section having a plurality ofupwardly projecting load bearing elements, said upper section includinga base portion adapted to overlie the base portion of said lowersection, having a plurality of depressions registerable with thedepressions in the base portion of said lower section when said sectionsare disposed in overlying relation whereby the depressions inforreceiving and forming a cover for the objects supported in thedepressions in the base portion of said lower section, the base portionof said upper section having a plurality of depending elementsregister-able and engageable in seating relation with said load bearingelements when said sections are disposed in overlying relation, saidupwardly projecting load bearing elements and said depending elementshaving coplanar engageable surfaces and a suflicient combined height tospace the opposed surfaces of said depressions sufiiciently apart so asto prevent any load being applied on said objects disposed in saiddepressions and to maintain said base portions in spaced relation whensaid upper and lower sections are positioned together in overlyingrelation and a load is applied to the upper section, and the bottomwalls of said depressions being substantially flattened to facilitatestacking of a plurality of trays.

. References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 155,109 9/1949 ShepardD58-13 D. 155,114 9/ 1949 Williams.

1,351,708 8/1920 Tiemann 217-26 2,236,675 4/1941 De Reamer 21726.52,774,473 12/1956 Williams 217-265 X 3,245,570 4/1966 Friday 229-2.5- X3,281,003 10/1966 Pesut 217-265 RAPHAEL H. SCHWARTZ, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

